September 16, 2009

My Thoughts On SCJP Java 6 Exam

Recently I have been thinking about the industry standard technology certifications, particularly around Java/JEE technologies. I am not exactly sure how valuable the technology certifications are when you are already an experienced veteran in the industry. But I can guess that it will give an impression to your upper management to accommodate you for the next level (higher level than where you are) or while switching jobs will justify you to apply for a higher title than you are in now.

Once I am successfully done with my hiking in Half Dome of Yosemite a few weeks later, I will be focusing on the Sun Certified Java Programmer (SCJP) exam on Java 6 platform. Although in my current project we use Java 5, we will be moving to Java 6 sooner or later as some other teams as well as the core platform team in Salesforce uses Java 6. Also it makes sense to get certified on the latest version of Java so that it can around your neck for a longer period of time in your career. I already talked to my manager and he was convinced that it’s relevant to my work and career development plan.

While looking for the best resources, I always refer to my favorite site JavaRanch. Even without looking much into all the books it was evidently clear that there are 2 outstanding study guides for this exam – Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates SCJP 6 Study Guide and Khalid Mughal and Rolf Rusmussen’s A Programmer’s Guide to Java Certification. Kathy&Bert book is targeted very much at making you pass the certification. But the strong points of Khalid&Rolf books is that it’s more thorough, details and explained subjects outside of the exam objectives if that should be useful to a programmer. So Khalid’s book should be better at teaching you Java. But I would recommend the K&B if you are already an experienced java programmer and just want to squeeze through the exam. I am thinking of reading the K&B first and then, time permitting, go through Khalid Mughal.

One place that every SCJP aspirants should frequently visit is the SCJP forum of JavaRanch. Try using only a text editor, even if Notepad and command prompt. Don’t copy paste codes, just type it yourself to see how you are introducing the compile and runtime errors. Here are the exam details and objectives. While looking for free mock exams for SCJP 6, I found the followings good at initial look.

One place that every SCJP aspirants should frequently visit is the SCJP forum of JavaRanch. Try using only a text editor, even if Notepad and command prompt. Don’t copy paste codes, just type it yourself to see how you are introducing the compile and runtime errors.

If you plan to buy a commercial mock exam, JQPlus from Enthuware is best amongst them – although I think you won’t need to spend $28 for this as K&B book already has some mock exams.

Last 2 weeks were one of my most extensive work hours spent in office. I was going early in the morning and coming back at midnight. Good that Shusmita was understanding enough towards my deadline in office and didn’t complain much. For this I had to skip hiking last week so that I can help her in preparation for the iftari and dinner invitations at our house.

One good news, Pearl Law Group applied for my PERM process on behalf of Salesforce.com in EB-2 Category, the day before yesterday. I hope all the paper processing happens very smoothly and fast for me.